‘Yes sir. It is usually the other way round. People sometimes get killed by their relatives, so that they can inherit their money.’
‘Exactly! I’m sure though there is money behind this. The three men cannot have been killed out of some revenge motive. They seem to have led blameless lives. No, it has to be money. We have just got to find out what these initials stand for.’
‘Well, none of them had the initials M. W. or B. for their names, so it can’t be anything to do with their families,’ suggested Crabb.
‘I think you are correct. M.W.B. What the devil do they stand for? You would think in a town like Malvern —,’ said Ravenscroft stopping suddenly. ‘Of course the M. stands for Malvern!’
‘Could be sir? After all they have all lived here for nearly 30 years or more.’
‘Good God, Crabb. How could we have been so blind! The answer is literary staring us in the face! It has been here under our noses all this time!’
‘I’m sorry sir. I don’t understand you,’ said a puzzled Crabb.
‘Look along the terrace, up there, at the top of the town. Tell me what you see. The buildings, what can you see, from the left?’ said an excited Ravenscroft.
‘Well sir. First there is the boarding establishment, then the wine cellars, the bank, the Oddfellows Hall, the dress shop, the — ’ recited a bewildered Crabb.
‘Yes. Go back to the bank. What does it say above the bank?’
‘The Malvern and Worcestershire Bank.’
‘Precisely, the Malvern and Worcestershire Bank — that’s what the letters M.W.B. stand for! The B in the centre of the inscription on the stick stands for Bank and the intertwined M and W stand for Malvern and Worcestershire respectively. I remember now on my first morning here, I saw Pitzer going into the bank. It all makes sense now. Each of our three victims was associated with the bank in some way.’
‘My word sir, I think your right. And to think we passed it by every day and not realised,’ said Crabb.
‘Let us pay a visit to the bank and see what we can discover,’ said Ravenscroft eagerly leading the way out of the churchyard.
The two men walked up the steps and crossed over the road to the bank. Crabb pushed open the heavy doors and the two men entered the building.
‘Can I help you gentlemen,’ said a clerk from the other side of the counter.
‘We would like to speak with the manager if you please,’ said Crabb.
‘Do you have an appointment sir? Mr. Chase is a busy man,’ replied the clerk, peering over his spectacles at the constable.
‘Would you tell Mr. Chase, that we are here on police business, and that we must speak with him urgently,’ said Ravenscroft.
‘Of course sir, if you will just wait a moment, I will tell Mr. Chase you are here.’
The clerk vacated his position and entered one of the inner rooms.
‘Don’t like banks sir,’ muttered Crabb.
‘Why ever not?’ asked Ravenscroft.
‘Don’t know sir. It must be the thought of all that money. It makes me feel uneasy.’
Ravenscroft smiled, as the clerk returned.
‘Mr. Chase will see you now. If you would care to follow me gentlemen.’
They followed the clerk across the foyer, and along a corridor, until they reached an open door.
‘Do come in gentlemen,’ said a voice from inside.
Crabb and Ravenscroft entered the room. They were met by a late middle aged, grey haired man, of rotund appearance, who came forward to meet them.
‘Do please be seated gentlemen. How may I be of assistance to you?’
‘I am Inspector Ravenscroft and this is my colleague Constable Crabb. We are investigating the deaths of several prominent citizens of Malvern, and believe you may be able to assist us in our enquiries.’
‘Yes, a terrible business, I was at the inquest the other day, but I was under the impression that you had apprehended the murderer, a blind beggar was it not?’ replied the manager shaking his head and adopting a mournful disposition.
‘We have since then eliminated the beggar from our list of suspects.’
‘I see.’
‘Mr. Chase, we believe that our three victims were all associated with the bank in some way,’ said Ravenscroft, ‘Each of them possessed one of these walking sticks with the initials M.W.B. on them,’ he said passing over the stick to Chase to inspect.
‘I have seen this kind of walking stick before, although I cannot remember the circumstances. Perhaps one of the gentlemen may have shown it to me upon one occasion, but certainly I cannot recall that they did so.’
‘Can you tell me whether any, or indeed all, of the deceased men were members of the bank?’ asked Ravenscroft.
Chase thought hard for a while.
‘Mr. Chase, this is a murder enquiry. Anything you tell us concerning the bank and its customers, will I assure you, be treated with the utmost confidence.’
‘I believe that both Doctor Sommersby and Mr. Pitzer were customers of the bank, but I do not recall Doctor Gladwyn being one. Certainly Mr. Pitzer conducted a lot of his personal and business interests through the bank,’ said Chase handing the stick back to Ravenscroft.
‘You say they were just customers of the bank? So not one of the three gentlemen played any prominent role in the life of the bank?’ asked Ravenscroft, feeling somewhat frustrated that his new line of enquiry appeared to be going nowhere.
‘No. I’m sorry I cannot help you further.’
Ravenscroft rose from his chair. ‘Thank you Mr. Chase. May I ask how long you have been manager of the bank?’
‘About twenty years.’
‘And when was the bank founded?’
‘1857 — thirty years ago. We always remember that because the date is engraved above the front door. You may have noticed it when you entered the building,’ replied Chase.
‘Do you know who owns the bank — or who the original founders were?’
‘That I do not know. All I am aware of is that we have no shareholders, and so no dividends are paid out each year. The money is simply re-invested in the finances of the bank.’
‘Does that not strike you as odd, Mr. Chase?’ asked Ravenscroft.
‘It is a little unusual I must admit, but not entirely without precedent. I have known several companies and financial institutions which have a number of what is known as ‘sleeping partners’ on their boards.’
‘But surely these so called ‘sleeping partners’ are used to drawing a dividend? What is unusual in your situation, it seems to me, is that no one claims their dividends. The bank must be in a strong financial position by now, as a consequence, of all this reinvestment? ‘ asked Ravenscroft, warming to his subject.
‘You are correct in that assumption, although of course I cannot disclose any figures.’
‘Do you have any documents relating to the foundation?’ asked Ravenscroft.
‘No. I’m afraid not. I do remember however someone saying, shortly after my arrival here, that all the material relating to the early days of the bank had recently been removed.’
‘Removed, where to Mr. Chase?’
‘I believe they were taken to the Malvern Library and Reading Rooms for safe storage’
‘Did that strike you as being somewhat odd, sir?’ asked Crabb, writing in his pocket book.
‘No not really. I understand that many of the archives relating to various concerns in the town, have been lodged with Mr. Clifford for safe custody, should they need to be consulted at any time in the future.’
‘Thank you again Mr. Chase, you have been most informative,’ said Ravenscroft shaking the manager’s hand.
‘I wish you well with your investigations inspector. The sooner this man is caught, the better it will be for all of us.’
‘Indeed so, Mr. Chase.’
The two police officers left the bank and made their way along the Terrace.